Blizzard punished and shamed 18k Korean Overwatch players

Overwatch is one of the most rapidly growing esports games, and it’s especially popular in South Korea. The game is very fast-paced, and a single mistake can swing the advantage in favor of one team or another. Throw in an easily accessible voice, chat and you get a potentially toxic environment where tilting players can ruin the experience for their teammates.

There can be four people communicating and getting along just fine, but if the fifth person is unreasonably frustrated the match will most likely be lost. No one likes to play with a griever as no strategy can give you a chance to win.

Blizzard has been trying to address the problem of toxic players for almost 20 years now, and it seems like the company has the right recipe, at least as far as the North Korean scene goes. The local gaming community is very cultural, and many players follow national traditions. You can see that by the modesty most professional players express when they give interviews even after matches they have recently won.

The elegant solution Blizzard came up with is shaming the players who have been ruining games for their fellow players. The company recently posted a list of 18k accounts “punished or suspended for toxicity.” It’s one thing when the developer silently punishes you, it’s another when every person you play with knows about your bad behavior.

If only this approach worked anywhere but North Korea...